Just for One Person

In the pitch-black room, only the girl's purple eyes emitted a faint glow.

A moment later, another voice quietly rang out.

"...It's normal to feel weak in front of family." Lin said with her eyes closed and only her lips parted. "And don't think she's stupid."

"Um?"

"No, it's nothing." Lin shut her mouth. "Go to sleep."

"Um."

Finally, Lin could get a good night's sleep, which was a reward for the suffering he had endured today.

"Lin... do you want to do something lewd?" A soft, shy voice, as if afraid others would hear it, yet also afraid others wouldn't, drifted into the room.

Lin suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes wide.

"... Do you know what you're saying?"

"You seem very tired today, so I thought I could make it up to you..."

"If you're too tired, you should go to sleep." Lin realized something was wrong as he said this, and he frowned and asked, "Why would you think of something like this?"

Sakura, clutching the blanket, peered out from under the bed at Rin: "Because I heard from others that you like doing that kind of thing... I don't know what you like, so..."

"Who said that?"

"Elysia".

"..."

Why am I not surprised at all when I hear this name?

Lin sighed, unsure how to respond, and could only say in a calm tone, "I don't like doing that kind of thing. I only do that kind of thing with people I like, and that kind of thing... is best done only with people I like."

The rumors seem to be getting more and more outlandish.

Hopefully, rumors like he touched the buttocks of every girl in the entire Firemoth will never surface again.

"... Would you do that kind of thing with someone you don't like?"

"Won't."

The night was long, and Lin couldn't fall asleep after being interrupted like this. He got up and tiptoed out of the room, while the purple pupils on the bed behind him watched his back with complicated emotions.

You know that won't happen.

What am I thinking...?

Lin walked into the living room and casually glanced around before spotting a girl hiding in a corner, peeking at him. He walked straight up to her, and the loud footsteps startled her.

"Hehe, Brother Lin, you can't sleep either? I... I came out to find something to eat."

Ling scratched her short hair sheepishly and gave Lin an awkward smile.

She noticed that Lin's pupils were somewhat unusual; the bottom of his jet-black pupils was scattered with a hint of emerald green, which, in the almost pitch-black environment, emitted a faint glow like two rather dim fireflies.

Lin didn't say much. He sat down on the sofa in the living room, put his hands behind his head, and began to sort out his thoughts.

Will the next Eleventh Honkai War be the same as before, or will it change?

If he replaced one of the Herrscher, will a new Herrscher emerge to replace him, or will he skip a major Honkai?

And there's one thing he cares about a lot.

At the end of the Tenth Honkai War, he should have used the Phoenix to shatter the Pseudo-Herrscher Core, and in the end he only collected 999 Tenth Herrscher Core. Therefore, the Herrscher consciousness born in his body should have dissipated.

But Lin had a feeling that was hard to describe in words.

Just like the phantom limb he described to Rin, even though the Pseudo-Herrscher Core had left his body, Lin still felt that the core was inside his body.

Moreover, the Pseudo-Herrscher Core born within him possessed some of the characteristics of the Herrscher of Death from the very beginning, and gained some of the abilities of the Herrscher of the Void within the World Bubble. Like a highly absorbent sponge, its threat extends beyond its original Herrscher Authority.

After thinking it over carefully for a long time, Lin shook his head. He was certain that he had destroyed the Pseudo-Herrscher Core. Attacking at point-blank range with an output power exceeding the Zero Rated Power, there was no possibility of him surviving.

"...Um?"

Lin saw Ling sitting nervously across from him through her bangs, and he asked calmly, "What's wrong?"

"Brother Lin, did you and my sister have a fight? Is it because of me?"

"... We didn't argue, I just couldn't sleep."

"Oh..." Ling nodded obediently, but a hint of hesitation remained in her expression. Lin spoke softly—

"Say what you want to say."

These words solidified Ling's resolve. Her heart pounded as she stared at Lin and asked, "Brother Lin, my sister... she's Flame-Chaser, right?"

As Lin said, don't think that Ling is stupid.

Just as Sakura acts differently in front of Rin than in front of others, Rin also acts "foolishly" in front of her sister. Rather than saying they deceive each other, it's more accurate to say they tacitly agree not to expose each other.

"Yes," Lin admitted directly.

Ling bit her lip. The matter was finally settled, but her biggest feeling was... relief.

There was a sense of relief, like the end of a long performance, the removal of makeup, and heading backstage.

"Bell."

"Brother Lin ..." Ling's expression was a mixture of bewilderment and sadness; she didn't know what expression to make.

"Your sister has sacrificed a lot for you and for humanity."

His tone was calm and forceful, making people unconsciously believe what he said.

In the darkness, his pupils emitted a faint, serene light.

"Before becoming Flame-Chaser, they were just ordinary humans like us. They were human first and then Flame-Chaser, and they were willing to give up their human identity and even their own lives for the sake of others."

"I have seen many people who sacrifice their lives for righteousness, including ordinary people and Flame-Chaser. At the moment they made up their minds, they were no different."

"So even if Sakura becomes Flame-Chaser, nothing will change between you. She has so much to say to you, but she's afraid of hurting you. Only after you truly stop caring about what she's hiding will she tell you the whole truth."

Lin's words dispelled the confusion in Ling's heart, and she nodded to Lin with a firm gaze.

The bedroom door was slightly ajar.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Just for One Person

Today, Mobius was more somber than usual.

The moment the expression on his face, as if he had been drowning in a pond for days, appeared in the laboratory, Danzhu and Cangxuan both trembled, sensing that something terrible was about to happen.

"Danzhu, when will you finish your report?!"

"Right away, Doctor!"

"You mean by 'immediately'? I asked you to submit it the day before yesterday, and so far, the only file on your computer that shows changes is the polygon count of the anime girl model!"

"Eek!!! I... I understand, I'll go to work right away!"

Mobius strode into the office as if he were about to crush the ground. Danzhu and Cangxuan exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief after the door closed.

"It seems that it's because Lin isn't at the base, and the Doctor can't find him." Cangxuan found a post about Mobius's sighting on the intranet forum.

Danzhu couldn't help but smile, Cangxuan also smiled.

Doctor, you've finally returned to how you used to be.

Mei suddenly felt a darkness before her eyes, and the woman's voice vanished without a trace. Startled, she quickly stood up, her clothes transforming back into her battle attire.

What happens?

"Hello? Are you still there?"

Mei tried to call out to the woman, but her voice was like a stone sinking into the sea. Everything in sight was quickly swallowed by darkness. She retreated, trying to avoid the surging darkness, but the darkness invaded faster than she could imagine. Almost instantly, she fell into a space where she could see nothing.

Another unexpected situation beyond the plan. Mei was on high alert this time, maximizing all her senses except for sight, wary of any potential enemies.

Was it a mistake of the Imaginary Tree? Or...?

Before Mei could prepare herself, the ground beneath her feet changed again. The pitch-black environment was replaced by a cemetery in the pouring rain, a scene that was almost a symbol of someone, and it also meant something.

"Rustle..."

A person walked in the rain, his figure seemingly blending into the darkness; only by seeing the shadow cast on the ground could one notice his presence.

At this moment, Mei felt the same way she did when she first encountered the "Artificial Intelligence" from this man who had always been incredibly mysterious to her.

A burst of inhumanity.

Is this yet another example of his "Artificial Intelligence"?

The man stopped at a distance where he could strike at any moment, and this action made Mei even more vigilant.

"Oh dear~ Lin, what's with the Herrscher here? It's so scary~"

Then, to Mei's disbelief, a girl with blue-purple gradient hair emerged from the man's shadow. She had the same beautiful face as Elysia, and even a pair of ethereal elf ears. The only difference was her hair color and her orange-red pupils.

But unlike Elysia's mysterious smile, the smile on the face of this girl who looks exactly like Elysia is alluring yet contains a chilling danger.

She is definitely not Elysia.

Mei's intuition told her the right answer.

A girl who looked exactly like Elysia ran her slender fingers over the silent man's helmet. She nestled against his back, wrapped her arms around his neck, and looked at Mei with a beaming smile, saying each word clearly, "That's Herrscher can harm humans~ My dear Lin, we must defeat that wretched Herrscher! Just like a hero defeating a demon king!"

Mei held her sword level and assumed a fighting stance with a solemn expression. The current situation was still unclear, but there was no doubt that this girl was full of hostility and aggression towards her, and this "Lin" was very likely to be her enemy.

But just as a battle was about to break out, the man made a muffled sound.

"Not all Herrscher need to be punished."

Mei clearly saw the girl's expression freeze for a moment; her momentary exasperation did not escape Mei's eyes.

"Lin?" Mei tried to talk to the man. He and the girl didn't seem to be on the same side as she had imagined. Could he be the real Lin?

"..."

But the man didn't respond to her. After saying those words, he stood there motionless, like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Please~ even if it's just for Elysia, okay?" The girl's smile remained the same, but she changed her words.

The man then said, "You are not Elysia."

"No, that is me."

"You are not."

"..."

The man's stubbornness was beyond imagination. No matter how much the girl imitated Elysia's tone and smile, he remained unmoved, which caused the girl's smile to crumble little by little.

It wasn't until the man's casual "You're not" that the girl's defenses crumbled. Her smile Honkai, and she glared at Lin through gritted teeth. Elysia's appearance made her expression at this moment seem more like a coquettish act than an angry one.

"Then just for me, okay!"

"...good."

However, the girl's angry shouts of despair received an unexpected response.

Even she herself stared at the man in disbelief, but he didn't even glance at her, and slowly walked forward toward the bewildered Mei.

"Are you Lin? What happened? And who is she?"

All of Mei's questions were ignored. The azure viewing window shone brightly as if it were daytime. With the man's footsteps approaching, the oppressive feeling she had experienced before returned.

What exactly is this...?

She gripped the sword hilt tightly, staring intently at the man.

"Why is the Herrscher of Erosion here? Didn't you already take care of her?"

The woman questioned the void in an unfriendly tone, clearly indicating that the change in the situation was the work of that person.

"Oh dear, I accidentally let her out, then I accidentally let her know the secret of the Imaginary Tree, and finally I accidentally let her hang out with Lin."

The man answered the woman's question in a flippant and casual tone.

It was called an answer, but it was really just a perfunctory response. The woman's eyes were practically spitting fire, and she was on the verge of exploding.